8 Best Books for the GRE Analytical Writing

The GRE Analytical Writing section is one of the most challenging sections. You need to analyse complex arguments, articulate your ideas clearly, and write persuasively—all under tight time constraints. However, with the right study materials, you can refine your analytical skills and approach test day with confidence.

This blog shares the 8 best books for the GRE Analytical Writing, offering a variety of resources to suit your learning style and budget. Whether you want official practice questions, in-depth analysis strategies, or a comprehensive guide to solving specific issue topics, we’ve got you covered.

Overview of the GRE Analytical Writing Section

The GRE General Test’s Analytical Writing measure assesses your critical thinking and analytical writing abilities. The Analytical Writing measure consists of a single 30-minute task called “Analyse an Issue.” This task provides an opinion on a specific issue along with instructions for your response. Your job is to analyse the issue, consider its various aspects, and develop a reasoned argument with examples and evidence to support your perspective. It focuses on your skills based on the following criteria:

• Articulating and supporting complex ideas

• Constructing well-reasoned arguments

• Maintaining a focused and coherent discussion

• This evaluation goes beyond specific content knowledge. Instead, it emphasises your ability to think critically about a presented issue.

Note: You will be using a basic word processor developed by ETS to write your essay. This word processor offers functionalities like inserting, deleting, cutting, pasting, and undoing the previous action. However, features like spellcheck and grammar check are not available.

Why Should You Use GRE Analytical Writing Books?

The GRE Analytical Writing books offer a structured approach to studying for the Analytical Writing section of the GRE. These books can help you develop strong analytical skills. They typically provide a range of practice prompts that cover the different types of essay tasks you might come across on the GRE. Working through these prompts will help you hone your critical thinking abilities as you learn to analyse arguments, identify assumptions, and construct persuasive essays.

The books can also improve your writing mechanics. By exposing you to a variety of well-written essays, these books can help you improve your grammar, GRE vocabulary, and sentence structure. As you read these examples, you’ll begin to absorb the elements of strong writing, which you can then incorporate into your essays.

Additionally, many GRE Analytical Writing books contain test-taking strategies that can give you an edge on the GRE. These strategies can help you manage your time effectively during the exam and approach the essay prompts in a way that will maximise your score. By learning these strategies and practicing them alongside the GRE AWA sample essays, you’ll be well-prepared to write clear, concise, and high-scoring essays on test day.

Also read: Important Topics for the GRE AWA Section

Top 8 Books for the GRE Analytical Writing

1. GRE Analytical Writing Supreme: Solutions to the Real Essay Topics

GRE Analytical Writing Supreme: Solutions to the Real Essay Topics by Vibrant Publishers is a comprehensive guide designed to help you ace the Analytical Writing section of the GRE. Divided into three books, it provides an in-depth analysis of over 145 real essay prompts.

By offering expert strategies, sample essays, and categorised topics (Arts, Education, etc.), the book provides you with the tools to not only understand effective essay structure but also develop strong critical thinking and analytical writing skills.

Price: INR 599

Buy it on Amazon.

2. Manhattan Review’s GRE Analytical Writing Guide

Manhattan Review’s GRE Analytical Writing Guide offers a two-pronged approach to mastering the Analytical Writing section of the GRE. It delves into the nitty-gritty of scoring, analysing the format, and how essays are graded. Additionally, it provides a rich practice ground with solutions to 20 real essay prompts, breaking down with a three-tier structure to predict the strongest responses and showing graded essays with critiques to illuminate the path to high scores.

Price: INR 532

Buy it on Amazon.

Read also: 10 Best GRE Prep Books for 2024

3. Testwise GRE Prep’s GRE Analytical Writing: Answers to the Official Pool of Issue Topics

Testwise GRE Prep’s GRE Analytical Writing: Answers to the Official Pool of Issue Topics provides pre-written essays for all the actual issue prompts you might come across on test day. Designed to address the time constraints of the GRE, the book goes beyond simply giving you answers. It includes explanations of what graders look for in a strong essay. This allows you to analyse the sample responses and improve your analytical writing skills in the process.

Price: INR 1,720

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4. McGraw Hill Education’s Conquering GRE Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing

McGraw-Hill Education’s Conquering GRE Verbal Reasoning and Analytical Writing targets the GRE’s verbal and writing sections. It offers in-depth explanations of the latest test format, along with drills and GRE practice questions to hone test-taking skills. By providing strategies for various question types and including four full practice verbal sections, the book promises to boost your confidence and prepare you to ace the GRE.

Price: INR 644

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5. ETS’s Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions

Published by the ETS, the Official GRE Verbal Reasoning Practice Questions offer over 150 real GRE practice questions across various difficulty levels. This allows you to develop your test-taking skills and gain a clear understanding of the question types, content areas, and overall structure of the verbal reasoning portion of the GRE.

Price: INR 899

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Suggested: GRE Preparation Books

6. GRE Analytical Writing Solutions for All Real Essay Topics

GRE Analytical Writing Solutions for All Real Essay Topics offers a two-pronged approach: firstly, by providing detailed strategies for writing the Analyse an Issue essay. Secondly, it includes practice with real, past essay topics. This gives you a chance to hone your critical thinking and writing skills in a realistic test environment. The book also includes breakdowns of scoring guides and sample essays to provide a clear understanding of what graders are looking for in a high-scoring response.

Price: INR 449

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7. 30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary

30 Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary by Wilfred Funk and Norman Lewis promises to strengthen your vocabulary for the GRE in just 15 minutes a day. The book uses a combination of quizzes and exercises to help you learn new words, understand their pronunciations, and master their roots. The book aims to not only improve your GRE score but also enhance your overall communication skills.

Price: INR 160

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8. GRE Words in Context

GRE Words in Context introduces challenging GRE vocabulary words within meaningful contexts. The book goes beyond memorization and fosters a deeper understanding of the nuances of the language. This approach, along with GRE practice tests and activities, provides you with the proficiency to not only decipher complex passages but also express yourself with greater clarity and precision in your GRE writing tasks.

Price: INR 599

Buy it on Amazon.

Read also: 10 Best Books for the GRE Quant Preparation

From the Desk of Yocket

For all GRE test-takers, the official guide serves as a foundational resource. It gets into the core principles of essay writing and ensures you have a strong grasp of structure, argumentation, and clarity. More importantly, it familiarises you with the specific format of the GRE essay task, which often deviates from traditional essay writing. The guide offers real-world examples of essays that have received different scores, along with detailed scoring rubrics. This allows you to analyse successful responses and understand the specific qualities graders seek in high-scoring essays.

However, if you’re aiming to maximise your score and land in the top percentiles, exploring beyond the official guide might be beneficial. Established test prep companies offer comprehensive resources specifically tailored for the GRE Analytical Writing section. These resources often dig deeper into specific question types and provide insightful strategies and techniques to write issue exploration prompts effectively. Additionally, they offer a wider pool of practice prompts that closely resemble the actual essay prompts you might come across on test day. For even more rigorous preparation, consider GRE prep premium options that offer advanced tools and personalized feedback. This allows you to practice applying your learned skills and strategies under timed conditions, mimicking the real exam experience.